The hardest thing about sitting still for long, is being at-odds with two sides of myself. To plant…or not to plant a garden. With Spring in the air, it’s impossible to resist sprinkling a few seeds about…just to watch them grow…for as long as I am here in this one place.

No, I realize, I cannot take a garden with me when we do actually pull our Mermaid Mansion on down the road. But I can at least enjoy the fruits of my labor while enjoying this island life for a little while longer. –Or until our old vintage relic-of-a-tiny-home-on-wheels is ready to roll. She still has a ways to go, and her tires are pretty lifeless; so new rubber is tops on our list of To-Do’s…when it comes to setting ournomadic spirits free once again.

For now…here I sit, writing a few words and thoughts; struggling still with two extremely different sides of me. In the meant-time, when I’m not writing, chances are I’ll be out back…digging and planting the ‘bit of earth’ I’ve been Blessed to call mine…for now. Never mind that it is only borrowed.

Do any of us ever really own the land on-which we sit…live…or garden? I know we cannot take it with us when we go. But we can sure enjoy the smell of soil on our hands, sifting through our fingers, and the scent of sweet blossoms before they bear fruit. I can only live in the moment and enjoy what life has brought my way. And when we do ‘set sail’, and Mermaid Mansion is bumping down the highway…to destinations unknown, I’ll gaze out the window…with the scenery zipping by, and I’ll embrace that moment with every ounce of my being. –Ever-so grateful for the change it will bring.

So…we went inland for the Easter holiday, to see family in La Porte. Funny how we’ve blended into the weave of fellow IBC’s (Islanders by Choice) here on our Gulf Coastal Island home. Even still, we long for the water, the rocking back and forth of our sailboat, the clinking of the masts in the wind. We visited with a local marina the day after Easter, after we got back to the island from a second trip to La Porte in two days because Nico left his phone at his Mom’s the day before. I have to admit, that day was a good one: lunching with Nico’s dad (the baby’s only living Grandpa), the lolly-gag-of-a-drive back to the island, the visit to the marina…and the smell of the water…down along the slips.

My wanderlust is really getting to me these days, and I miss our sailboat more and more. If not this year, since we just can’t bring ourselves to sell our old girl, I think next year we’ll certainly be bringing our boat to her new island home. For now, Nico and I are still working on new tunes for Gypsy Vin Rose, and getting ready to start touring…again. Gigs…? Well, that’s another story. If only we could get around the little problem of ‘no sitter’ and no room for another passenger (Grandma) in the Peniki van, we’d be good to go.

For now, I continue to write songs, and work on getting my voice back after a long battle with the crud. Honing my mandolin skills, while continuing to remodel our old Gypsy Caravan and Island home Mermaid Mansion is the way I’ve been spending my days lately. That…and going to the beach almost every day, if we’re not biking to Nixi’s favorite play park, has become our Island way-of-life. I can’t complain, though I sure do miss the smell of our boat, and the cold spray of water splashing up onto the deck as we cut through the waves…sailing into the sunset.

I guess you could say I’m kind of ‘sea sick’, though in an entirely different way. I miss the water, instead of being sick from it. : ) So for now, I’ll just remember-when, and continue to work on decorating Mermaid Mansion. This week…I’m sewing new couch cushions. And I must admit, I am so very proud of the way our old caravan is ‘coming about’! Next up…sewing a custom quilt for Nixi. I have the kewlest Hippie Van fabric I bought from Ebay, which I’ll pair with a flower child sort-of print. I can hardly wait to see how it turns out! I’ll post pics for anyone who wants to see how it all comes together.

For now, I think I’ll get back to my stitch-witchery, and making my vintage trailer a comfortable island home. Cheers to all who read my scribblings, and Blessings to those of you who comment. : ) And…Fair Winds to all you salty Sailors and deep-sea Pirates out there. May you find true happiness…just over the horizon.

Wow…! What a wind we’ve had overnight and this morning! It’s gotta be making all the birds fly backwards out there. Poor little seagulls! I feel for them while I’m sitting nice and cozy-warm by my faux fireplace…in our little caravan home.

I feel rather grateful today; thinking of the things we do have and not focusing on the things we are lacking. One of which would be money: broke as a joke…we are! But, I still feel really grateful, none-the-less. You see…? My husband has started a part-time job for a time-share resort, and to us…this means ‘finally’ a steady income. As much as we are attempting to live a simpler life, society just keeps reeling us back in. And living below one’s means shouldn’t include having to struggle so badly that your selling your stuff (things you might not want to sell) in-order to keep bills current.

I have to laugh at that one: keeping the bills current. Sometimes I just don’t know which way is up! We’re damned if we do (follow the 8 to 5 robotic flow of society) and we’re damned if we don’t (attempt to live below our means in a small dwelling, whilst the ‘uppety’ folks around us frown down their noses like we’re criminals?). But it has all taught me a very valuable lesson: you can’t please everyone…so you got to please yourself, as the song also goes.

So I’m rambling, which I tend to do. But I promise I really do have a point to all this. My point is, we are thankful for what we have, though we are longing for less even-still: less of the societal hooks in our sides, less bills, less crowds of people and traffic, less work and more life (I miss my husband when he isn’t here, and this place would fall apart without him), less complications all across the board, and less nosiness from the folks that think it’s better to send my daughter to ‘traditional school’ (homeschooling looks better everyday). I could go on and on…but I won’t bore you that much!

Either way, we will continue to work on our tiny house dwelling – caravan home, and I will continue to look for a small, but secluded, plot of land to homestead; something that we will own and I can have farm animals and make my own cheese, and gather eggs from our own chickens. And…we can still be free to go camping and travel a bit in Peniki. She needs an overhaul, so we are rather forced to stay put for now. Still, she needs to be turned out to greener pastures and times…just like us. Graze off the land, as we were meant to be allowed to do; this land was God’s gift to man, and man has dominated it to his own injury. My belief…entirely.

So, even though these birds are still flying backwards in life, we are making some progress with the remodeling of our travel trailer — caravan home (one in the same). Therefore, I felt in order to keep this blog from becoming such a ‘hodge-podge’ mess of subjects, I should go ahead and start a blog dedicated to the remodeling of our vintage trailer. I hope you will follow and see what we’re up to, the many mistakes we often make (so you won’t make them too), and the little innovations we are forced to come up with…due to lack of funds. I will be posting the link or reblogging right here…soon! I invite you to take a peek into our chaotic life. You might just be inspired, but you’re sure to have a laugh or two.

…Or so the saying goes! But for us, it has been true here lately. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff people throw away around here! Hey…I’m not complaining! Because of a few ‘rather well-off’ folks on the island, we’ve been able to acquire an interior door (which we turned into a wall in our living room/kitchen area), 3 white ‘wide louvre’ blinds ( which we later priced at Home Depot for over $100 dollars a piece–ours are the larger (much larger) ones), a bum-load of lumber to fix what needs fixin’ round here (which would be just about everything), a kitchen full of cabinetry from a historic three-story home over in the Strand District of Galveston (they were seriously going to the garbage out in the alley), a kitchen full of synthetic Italian Marble countertops for our caravan kitchen remod (it looks like terra cotta or stained concrete–so beautiful). I know I’m missing a few items…but you get the jest of this ‘trash to treasure’ thing we got going here! : )

All I know is–this place is going to look so great when we’re done, and it won’t even have cost us but a drop-in-the-bucket in comparison to what it would’ve had we not foraged through our island neighbors’ trash piles. I feel really Blessed that we were able to save it all from the local land-fill, recycle and repurpose. When it comes down to it; all our trailer remodeling has cost us…out-of-pocket is what we paid for primer, paint, garden seeds and a few plants, as well as the shutters and screen door we bought at the local Architectural Salvage Store; which is ran by the Galveston Historical Society. In-short…we’ve taken bits and pieces of a few of the historic homes here on Galveston…and made it all part of our travel-trailer home. And what a flavorful home she is becoming! I can’t wait to see my new kitchen when we put it all together! I’ll be sure to post photos when we do. May it inspire you to do some trash pile digging of your own! : ) You never know what you may find.